Rehabbing Ramos slugs homer to lift Hagerstown over Legends by a 10-8 margin

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, playing for Hagerstown on a rehab assignment, hit a three-run homer to break a 1-1 tie, and the Suns went on to a 10-8 win over the Lexington Legends Sunday.

Ramos, who underwent surgery after breaking the hamate bone in his left hand March 31, singled in the first inning as Hagerstown took a 1-0 lead. After the Legends tied the game with a run in the second, the Suns put two men on with walks in the third before Ramos delivered a home run to right field, giving Hagerstown a 4-1 lead.

Alfredo Escalera’s two-run homer in the fourth inning cut the lead to one, but the Suns answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, the first coming on a leadoff homer by John Wooten. Willie Medina reached base on an error by second baseman Ramon Torres, one of four errors the Legends committed. After Rafael Bautista was hit by a pitch, Medina and Bautista executed a double steal, leaving runners at second and third. Medina scored as Isaac Ballou reached base when first baseman Samir Duenez dropped a throw from Torres, who had fielded Ballou’s grounder. A wild pitch allowed Ballou to reach second as Bautista held on at third. Wilmer Difo’s sacrifice fly brought home Bautista and the Suns led 7-3.

Hagerstown added a run in the fifth on Medina’s sacrifice fly. Each team scored two runs in the sixth, leaving the Suns in front 10-5.

The Legends, who stranded 10 baserunners in the game, got closer with two runs in the seventh. With one out, Humberto Arteaga singled. Carlos Garcia’s bunt was fielded by catcher Craig Manuel, who threw past first base for an error. Arteaga came around to score and Garcia went to third, from where he scored on Dominique Taylor’s ground out.

The Legends added a run in the eighth. Michael Antonio’s single got past Bautista, the center fielder, and Antonio advanced to third base. He scored on Chad Johnson’s grounder.

Hagerstown starter Lucas Giolito (2-0), Washington’s first round pick in the 2012 draft, picked up the win. He pitched five innings, allowed two earned runs, walked two and struck out five. Ryan Ullman pitched three and two-thirds innings in relief, and earned his third save.

Legends’ starter Cody Reed (0-2) pitched four innings and took the loss.

The Suns have won two out of three games in the series, which concludes Monday night. Game time is 6:35 p.m.